This is actually rather interesting because it allows us... to roughly estimate kill drone production volumes. Certainly the Russians produce their own fiber-optic cable and some of this likely goes into infrastructure, but we can certainly see how many drones this would support.⬇️ Now, what's important to realize is this likely represents a bulk buy to build a stockpile to support production going forward into the future. With that being said, we can see that the Russian Federation has imported approximately 650,000 miles of fiber-optic cable from China in 2025 after importing about 200,000 miles in 2024 and de minimis quantities previously. This converts to approximately one million kilometers of cabling. Wire-guided drones come with different sizes of wire canisters to provide for varying ranges, but a 10km coil seems to be the average length - canisters up to 50km have been seen occasionally while most drones launched at closer targets likely use more manageable 5km spools or shorter. With that being said, at this point it's a simple matter of division to determine that the Russians will likely deploy around 100,000 wire-guided kill drones in 2025. This is simultaneously a huge amount of firepower and a further hard data point suggesting that claims of millions of drones slung about monthly between the combatants are fantasy. For context, Russian artillery can and has easily consumed over 100,000 shells in a single hot day. Pictured: Expended kill drone wires in the Donbass.show more

Russian media report drone attacks last night: ◾️Drones attacked... the Optic Fiber Systems plant located in Russian Saransk. It is noteworthy that this is the Republic of Mordovia - at least 7,000 km from the Ukrainian border. Locals counted at least a dozen drones and posted footage of precision hits. Optic Fiber Systems plant produces fiber-optic cables, which are used to control combat drones. ◾️Local authorities reported an attack on an industrial facility in Chapaevsk. Preliminary, the drones targeted the Promsintez plant, which produces explosives for the Russian army.show more

Americans are not ready to watch sons and daughters... hunted by FPV drones. Some may not like this post, and that’s OK. Some may see this as being a “panican,” and that is also OK. My tolerance for American blood being spilled is very, very low. But this needs to be said: If you have paid any attention to the war in Ukraine, you will know how drone warfare has escalated. You will have an understanding of the sophistication of the Ukrainians and Russians in their pursuit of hunting and killing each other with human-guided robots strapped with explosives. We know Russia and Iran share military ties; hell, the most common form of long-range standoff munition used to target Ukrainian infrastructure is an Iranian-designed Shahed drone. Now, are the Iranians as sophisticated as the Russians? No. But will a ground action result in grainy videos of Americans being hit by FPV drones? Almost certainly. Could the deployment of ground forces to the Gulf be a feint? Sure, it could be, but this point extends beyond Iran. The U.S. needs to be ready to counter the drone menace. I won’t pretend to know the inner machinations of the Joint Chiefs, the White House, or President Trump, but with the destruction of an E-3 Sentry on the runway, it has become absolutely clear the U.S. armed forces have not scaled their ability to handle drones. I don’t know what the answer here is, but I haven’t seen this point brought up at the frequency it deserves. It needs to be said. We are not ready for footage of American soldiers and Marines cowering in their last moments, set to some upbeat pop song or some cleric screaming praises to Allah.show more

Drone escort This is the future of military convoys... as well as civilian convoys in risky areas. Two or more drones will patrol while defensive systems will include interceptor drones that can be deployed when needed. It is likely that a vehicle equipped with VLS (Vertical Launch System) will operate solely with missiles and kamikaze drones, with target coordinates transmitted by the patrol drones. This concept is quite similar to what the Chinese are implementing with the Type 100, but they have adapted it for assault units, which I still believe needs to be tested.show more

‼️ Russian FPV drones are capable of hitting targets... near Pavlograd in the Dnipropetrovsk region As reported by journalist Kirienko, drones attacked cars on the highway towards Pokrovsk, about 7 kilometers from the city in the Dnipropetrovsk region. “Most likely, this is again a drone-queen, which 'brought' several FPVs. This is the first such hit on this route, so close to Pavlograd. We are systematically losing to the Russians in mid-strike. Such strikes on logistics in the rear and deep rear are becoming more and more frequent,” she notes. - UARUshow more

The Chinese-Russian PGI Technology group is producing FPV drone... fiber optic spools up to 50km in length, for both internal and external unwinding of the optical fiber. The fiber apparently is wound using a special type of glue to hold the spool together.show more

Slow Progress is the New Reality of Modern Wars... There are many people commenting on Russian difficulties and coming up with numerous reasons for their alleged collapse. I absolutely do not see any collapse; on the contrary, Russia has already normalized a state of war in Ukraine, which boosts its economic and industrial growth. The difficulties faced by Russia today are the same as at the beginning of the war, with soldiers having to spend up to half of their initial salaries on their own equipment, delays in pensions, and a series of other problems that are mirrored on the Ukrainian side, even with all the support from allies. The war today is much less lethal than it was months ago, and both Russian and Ukrainian losses have significantly decreased during this phase. Lethality has fallen, but Russian advances persist. And why are they slow? Is it a Ukrainian tactic? No. They are slow because they are accompanied by the deployment of communication infrastructure like signal repeaters for drones, the advancement of artillery guided by drones, maneuvers using FAB and more recently ODAB bombs against Ukrainian drone operators' facilities, infiltration by reconnaissance teams, saboteurs, and a series of protocols they have developed. That conventional war with rapid advances no longer exists, and in the context of a battlefield dominated by drones, it is unlikely to return. Modern wars will have slow progress, as seen in the attacks and counter-attacks of the Russians and Ukrainians in this war. Contemporary military forces are still unable to see this new reality of war. When analyzing the Russian advance, it's important to consider that all these maneuvers take days to unfold, but the point is that the Russians have already adapted to this pace, not bothered whether a particular advance will take 3 weeks or 3 months. They advance continuously following tactical protocols with little threat from Ukrainian forces, which, without new equipment, have had their defensive tactics remain almost unchanged over the past two years, relying mainly on drones and making it easier for Russian studies of countermeasures. And what can Ukraine do in this situation? I see few options, but one would be to delay the Russian advance with a good number of missiles, though personally, I find it unlikely that they will reach Ukrainian hands. It wouldn't have the power to change the balance of the war, but it would guarantee more time, which is important because the battlefield is dynamic, and the implementation of new tactics based on innovative weapons can change everything overnight. A war that seems almost lost today could take a different turn in weeks. Time is crucial for Ukraine, which has fronts only about 130 km from cities like Zaporizhia and Dnipro.show more

#BREAKING 🇷🇺🇺🇦 For the first time ever, we have... drone footage of Russian UPAK FABs hitting the Ukranian city of Zaporozhye. This is the 3rd day in a row Russia has launched over a dozen FAB-500s strikes on the city. The main target appears to be the Motor production plant. This plant is massive and has been hit multiple times before with Russian missiles. In addition to FAB strikes, Russia also launched several Geran drones. You can see 3 hitting the same target within seconds of each other in the third video.show more

Drones are the biggest infantry-killers in the modern warfare.... They can sit and wait for their prey to arrive. This is a Russian fiber-optic FPV drone sitting on the ground and eliminated a Ukrainian soldier after he was spotted.show more

Chinese Swarm Drone Systems: 48 and 96 Drones Some... time ago, I wrote about the evolution of autonomous systems and how only the Chinese were truly making progress in this field. After starting serial production of the Swarm-2, which features 48 drones and real-time tracking, they are now testing a version with 96 drones. These are divided into three categories: reconnaissance, jamming, and attack. Each drone can carry a variety of payloads, including electro-optical reconnaissance, strike munitions, and relay communications. They can be flexibly combined into different operational groupings, forming multifunctional swarms capable of complex missions. These drones have an individual range of 15 to 50 km, but the manufacturer claims that by maintaining a swarm network communication, this range is significantly extended. This strongly reinforces what we discussed a while back: that future wars will be dominated by drone systems that will severely delay any ground troop advancement, as already evidenced by the conflict in Ukraine.show more

In a remote area of Sinaloa, members of La... Mayiza showcased an FPV drone equipped with a fiber optic module, claiming it belongs to “La Chapiza.” However, it may be linked to the CJNG–Chapiza alliance, though confirmation is uncertain. The drone, a 10-inch Mark4 V2, uses a fiber optic module for transmission via a thin cable instead of radio frequency, making it resistant to standard electronic countermeasures. While not invincible—shotguns or cable-cutting can disable it—this technology shifts the dynamics of confrontations between cartels and Mexican law enforcement. Initially, the video’s authenticity was questioned, but analysis by specialists (Pernicious Propaganda via X) found no evidence to dispute its legitimacy or that it was filmed in Mexico. This case highlights a trend: cartels are advancing technologically in a decentralized way. Skilled “drone pilots” innovate with advanced platforms like fiber optic-equipped drones, while others use less reliable, rudimentary versions. Such technology has been observed across regions like Veracruz, Guerrero, Michoacán, and Sinaloa, ranging from modified DJI Avata 2 drones to cutting-edge systems.show more

>Footage of the iron dome firing at a Hezbollah... drone after an IAF Apache failed to intercept. >Maariv: The North is Burning: Since the morning, many alarms have been sounding due to Hezbollah's rocket and drone firing at IDF forces in the field and northern communities. An IDF source said that this is the "heaviest day of fighting since the ceasefire." >Channel 12: 10 drones have been detected in recent hours. >Channel 13: Israel has failed to confront the drones and find a comprehensive solution for them. It's impossible to cover all of southern Lebanon with nets to protect the soldiers, and Hezbollah is aware of this.show more

🇺🇸🚩The company Auterion demonstrated its FPV drone SLM-10 on... fiber optics. Auterion has long been openly testing software (SW) called AuterionOS at the "Ukraine" test site. The software is compatible with drones from different manufacturers and unites UAVs "into a single coordinated structure", allowing a single operator to control many drones simultaneously. Recently, this company demonstrated the strike of these same drones SLM-10 in "swarm mode" at a German test site on a model of a Russian tank. The head of Auterion Lorenz Meyer stated to British media that the company will supply Kyiv with 33,000 unmanned strike kits, operating on the basis of AI. See the latest updates with us: Visioner See the latest updates with us: Visionershow more

The Russians are apparently trying to build simple rewinding... machines for fiber optic FPV spools. Buying fiber cable in bulk and rewinding it onto printed spools is a lot cheaper than buying wound spools from China.show more

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Footage taken by a Ukrainian servicemen shows the... amount of fiber optic cable wire along the battlefield. This video was reportedly taken in the Chernihiv region, far away from the Donbass. Even the scale of fiber optic drone usage here is massive.show more

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Kursk region: Russian fiber-optic drone destroys Ukrainian signal... repeater drone. In that moment many Ukranian drones, likely dropped from the air.show more

“Gifts” from our Czech friends to the russians —... delivered🫡 4 tanks, an unmanned ground vehicle, a buggy, and a van were destroyed by drones purchased with the support of the Czech organization Dárek pro Putina — and these are just the first results of our cooperation. Most importantly, many russians became “good” ones — because there’s no escaping a fiber-optic drone😉 We sincerely thank our Czech friends for their support. These drones continue to effectively eliminate the enemy on the hottest sections of the frontline. More to come🤝show more

Early this morning, several long-range attack drones struck the... Kronshtadt Production Plant in the town of Dubna to the north of Moscow, which is operated by the Kronshtadt Group and produces both drones and cruise missiles for the Russian Armed Force; in a large-scale drone attack today by the Ukrainian Armed Forces against the Moscow Oblast of Western Russia, over 300 miles from the border with Ukraine. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, over 300 drones launched by Ukraine were downed this morning approaching Moscow.show more

🇺🇦🇺🇸 David Petraeus, former Director of the CIA, on... the Russia-Ukraine war and the decisive role of drones in modern warfare: 📌 “We are far from having fully absorbed all the lessons that the war in Ukraine should teach us.” 📌 “This is what the future of war looks like right now. Ukraine uses 10,000 drones per day. Ninety percent of Russian losses (casualties) are caused by drones. Tanks can no longer maneuver, they cannot survive, nor can armored vehicles. And by the way, there is much more ahead. In one or two years, we will see unmanned systems that won’t even need remote operators.” 📌 “In the future, we will see autonomous systems — truly autonomous ones — that won’t require a remote pilot at all.” 🇺🇦 “Ukraine has increased its drone production from 3.5 million last year to up to 7 million this year. If they find enough pilots (operators), they could use even 20,000 drones per day. Then you will be facing swarms of drones. And this is something for which we really don’t yet have an effective solution.” Video is generated by grok AIshow more